Disclaimer: I do not, nor do I plan to, own the anime Fushigi Yuugi. Rights to the show applies to whoever owns it. I'm just borrowing it for a moment.
Author's notes: I apologize for the lack up updates in the past 4 or so months. I jumped from one play to another, as teachers decided to buckle down on homework. I also lost sight of the story, and when Christmas came, I got into Kingom Hearts. BUT I did finish the chapter, and I do intend to finish this story as soon as I can- the end is in sight. So, thanks for waiting, and enjoy!
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"Do I?... What are you talking about?"
"Well, Miaka, it seems almost obvious that Genrou does like you. He's always watching you, and I was just wondering if those stars in your eyes mean anything. Because, after all," Ai said while flipping her hair over her shoulders, "The man is- and will always be- mine." Miaka stared at Ai for a moment, shocked at the open and carefree attitude the other girl had. Before Miaka opened her mouth to clear anything up between her and Ai, Kourin's mouth had already opened.
"What the hell are you talking about? 'Oh, yes, Genrou's mine! You can't have him!' That's a bunch of bulllllllll-shit! What, are you the one in charge of who decides who ends with who?" Miaka tried to calm Kourin down, but Kourin kept on scream at Ai, who's eyes slowly grew more enraged. "Sure, maybe I'm biased or something, but you still don't have to be a bitch about it!"
"Oh, so now I'm the bitch?! What the-" Ai finally snapped, and her voice finally became heard.
"No, you are not the bitch now. You've always been!" Kourin shot back. Ai's eyes shot open, and her mouth flew open moments later, and the two began to argue loudly. Everyone in the room stared at the two with interest, knowing that a battle between Kourin and Ai was always legendary.
"Ladies! What is going on in here?!" The door flew open, and two men Miaka knew well through her training entered the room. Kourin and Ai stopped, and stared at the two men in shock.
"Nothing has been going on, my good sirs. The most that has happened this evening was a verbal disagreement, and nothing more," Sachi said. She smiled, her lips curving up. Her eyes narrow as she strolled over to the two men, hips turning in a sensual dance. "What do you think happened?" Miaka watched as the two men briefly exchanged a glance, and one answered.
"A verbal disagreement my ass! Two of you in here were screaming at each other over something, and it nearly scared-"
"Does that really matter?" Sachi drawled. Miaka heard Kourin sigh behind her, and she heard the rustle of Kourin's dress as she stood up.
"Well, ladies, as much as I hate to say this, but I forgot that Miaka and I were asked by Yami-san to go get something. If you all would excuse us..." She marched out of the room after she spoke, and Miaka slowly stood.
"Thank you for letting us spent time with you all."
"Don't worry, Miaka. We simply must spend more time together in the future. In the past year that we've been here, I've hardly gotten to know you! Such a shame..." Miaka nodded at Ai's curt comment, and walked away, walking fast when she reached hall, wanting to catch up to Kourin.
Once she had caught up, Kourin turned to her, her eyes filled with rage. "Can you believe her?"
"Kourin, you really did overreact in there. You didn't need to start fighting like that."
"Oh please! It's the first time it got that bad!" Miaka turned to Kourin, and stared for a moment.
"And what do you mean by, 'that bad'? It doesn't make any sense! Besides, I know you don't like Ai that much." Miaka snuck a glance down the hall, and after noticing Ai visibly flirting with the guards from earlier, she continued. "I'm not fond of her either, but you can't keep fighting with her. It's going to turn nasty- really nasty- one day." Kourin sighed.
"Fine, I'll stop. I know you hate it. Besides..." Kourin strolled up to Miaka, a sly grin upon her face. "What good is life if we can't have a little fun?" Miaka sighed, and walked away from her, Kourin laughing hysterically and yelling for Miaka to wait for her. Shaking her head, Miaka ignored Kourin's request, and turned to walk down a different hall to go to her own room.
However, the body Miaka bumped into while turning down the hall made it a bit more difficult.
"Sorry!" Miaka cried out, her waist bend, apologizing. She heard a deep, amused chuckle, and looked up, seeing the one face she thought she had rid herself of. Biting her lip, she stood up straight, preparing for what lied next.
"Now, what a surprise... Thought I'd never have seen you here." Miaka gave him a small smile in return.
"Things can happen for the strangest reasons." He nodded. "What are you doing here?"
"I joined the harem a month or so after you left... Some guy came to our home, and said he's appreciate it if I joined. I kind of got forced into it... But it's nice. My family is safe, I know that. I like the people here, and I'm guaranteed food and a bed." Miaka slowed down a bit, thinking of everything she had gained in a day, just by joining the harem.
"It's everything that we didn't have back in the day... Am I right?" The man moved closer to Miaka, his voice growing lower. Her face scrunched up a bit, and she backed away.
"We're not that old that you should be saying, 'back in the day,' right?" Her eyes fell to the ground, and she backed away even more. The man in front of her smiled, and strolled closer to her.
"Very true... Very. You've always been the voice of reason whenever we got into trouble... No Mother, it wasn't our fault! Kishuku wanted to see what had happened, and when we found him, he had already cut his arms and ripped his clothes!" Miaka looked at the man, slightly amused, as he mimicked herself as the tender age of seven. "Never mind the fact that we had been there when he ended up ripping his clothes..." The man's voice grew lower and nostalgic as his drifted into his and Miaka's childhood. Miaka moved closer to her old friend, feeling sympathetic for him, and laided a hand on his shoulder.
"We've grown older, haven't we?" The man looked as if he were going to open his mouth, but he glanced away from Miaka for a moment, and slowly backed away.
"Miaka, darling, I think it's time to go back to bed now. We're getting looks from the guards around here." Miaka jumped when she heard Kourin's voice. She hadn't noticed Kourin walking over to her, and was shocked to discover how close she had gotten.
"That's... I think that's a good idea. Good night," She said, while nodding to the man near her. Waving a hand, he walked away before Miaka dug up the courage to pick her feet up, and she remained still, watching him walk away from her.
"Miaka," Kourin said while leaning into the girl. "Who was that man?" Miaka looked at Kourin, her eyes full of nostalgia.
"I... I did tell you, a while ago, of my life growing up, right?" When she received a nod, she pressed on with her story. "Well, remember how I told you about how I used to run around with Kishuku an-"
"Was that him? It couldn't have been! You said-"
"Never mind what I said!" Miaka glanced around, curious to see how loud her voice had become. "Let's go back to our rooms," she said in a lower voice. "I can explain more there."
"But do you know why he's here? I thought you told me that he went to-"
"I don't know why he's back. Kishuku told me, before I came here, that I might as well stay, since it's the last place people would expect me to be." Kourin nodded, understanding Miaka's firm dislike of the rituals the harem daily placed upon the women. "He also told me that I need to be careful, because of everything."
"You never told me how it ended." Miaka stopped, midstep, and stared at Kourin as she turned to Miaka.
"Because I don't want to remember. If everyone had wanted me to remember, I would still be home."
"And... Who is this everyone?"
"Kourin, shut up." Kourin giggled, and turned to Miaka, who was currently walking slowly. Looking at her carefully, Kourin sighed.
"All right, so you won't tell me what happened. I can deal with that. But, you have to promise me one thing, that you'll tell me someday." Sighing, Miaka agreed to Kourin's request, wishing it would be a long time before she told her friend.
"Ladies! It's time to return to your rooms!" Miaka sighed again, knowing the voice she heard very well.
"We shall return to our rooms now, sir!" Kourin called out to the man. Before she began to walk to her room, she turned to Miaka. "You sigh too much. I think we need to stop this." Miaka stifled a giggle.
"It's not going to work. Whenever we try to stop someone from doing something, you know it doesn't work. You know that slapping someone isn't going to get them to stop just as much as I do."
"But I can try!" Kourin cried out as she dashed away, her hair flying behind her. Miaka blinked as she watched her friend fly into her room, feeling indifferent about her statement.
"I just hope she doesn't slap me every time I sigh... It's going to get old soon," Miaka murmured under her breath as she stepped closer to her room. When she reached the room, she fell onto the bed, glad to be comfortable. She sat up, pulling her hair out of the knot Kourin had tied it into earlier, and shook her head, hair flying all around her. Draping herself over the side of the bed, she grabbed her nightgown with one finger, and flung in onto the bed, keeping it within reach of her hands. After quickly changing, she pulled herself into reach of her pillow, and wrapped her arms around it. She tried to lure herself into dreaming, but she didn't get very far.
"Great..." She groaned, her face falling into the center of the pillow. "Kishuku's going to strangle me... " Another groan fell from her mouth, and she looked up at her wall, then giggled. "Not matter what I say, he's not going to believe me. I wish he wouldn't be so stubborn..." Another giggle escaped from her. "But I guess, no matter what, he's always going to be that way, isn't he? People are too stubborn for their own good..." As Miaka giggled, she looked over at her closed window, and smiled. She sat up, and walked to the window, and opened it. Sighing, she sat upon the window frame, and leaned against the wall.
Another day, another day. So much has happened today. I guess that it was bound to happen. Well, I guess the most I can do is hope for the best. Since I can't count on anything good to happen with everyone here, I might as well make the best of it. Maybe, if I do that, I can figure everything out, and then life will be perfect... If life would permit me to be happy.
As Miaka drifted off at the windowsill, she didn't notice that, in the shadows of the trees near her room, two men stood, talking silently under their breath. As time passed, the two slowly made their way over to Miaka's window, carefully and silently walking, trying to avoid awaking her. Finally, one man placed a note between her hands, and signaled to the other man, before he walked away. Before walking away, the other man called out to his partner.
"Are you sure we needed to do this?" The man stopped walking, and turned around.
"We can't tell her everything, as much as I want to. But she knows something is going on, and I can't help but feel bad for her, when she's this confused. We might as well let her know something, otherwise she's going to go insane." The other man, by this time, had caught up, and was facing his partner.
"She isn't going to like this, only knowing part of the truth."
"She will know soon enough how this will end. I can only hope that she won't be caught... Before anything happens seriously." When the words escaped his mouth, they lingered in the air as the two men contemplated a possibly future. Their eyes locked onto each other, and for a moment, firm understanding passed through each other. The moment was lost when they, in unison, turned, and walked in different directions, their task complete. Neither man looked back at Miaka, who still dozed quietly.
It wasn't until the wind began to blow that Miaka had woken up, and she quickly shut the windows, taking no notice of the note that was wedged between her hands, which fluttered to the ground when she jumped up from the cold touch of wind. Miaka, ignoring the stark white paper on the ground, walked to the desk, and lit the candle quickly, allowing light to stream through the room. Taking the candle to her bed, she sat down upon the sheets, and put the candle on the table next to her. As she lifted her head when the candle met the wood surface of the table, Miaka finally noticed the note. Walking slowly to the paper, she picked it up with hesitant fingers, as if the paper were made of acid, ready to burn her skin by its touch. She stared at the paper for a moment, before opening it to read. Her eyes widened for a moment, and she gasped when she realized the true meaning of the note.
"I can't do this any long... It needs to come out." As the words were spoken, she dropped the note, and walked to her bed, and picked up the candle. She grabbed a robe, and walked to her door before taking one last look at the note upon the floor, the words ... It is coming, and you need to end this... visible from where she stood. Gathering her confidence, she opened her door, and walked away, muttering to herself that the note meant nothing. However, as soon as she walked out of her room, she bumped into something hard. Looking up in aggravation, she prepared to lash out at whoever had blocked her way. But her eyes softened when she realized what had stopped her.
"Genrou? What are you doing here?" He looked into her eyes for a moment before taking in what she was wearing.
"And you are out of bed this late because..." He gave Miaka another quick glance before looking into her guilty eyes once more. "And what exactly were to saying before you bumped into me?"
I can't! I can't tell him... It's better this way... He can't.
"Genrou, I... I..." Miaka paused, and looked him in the eyes, noticing...
He looks so concerned. I can't lie to him. I can't.
Turning on her heel, Miaka threw an apology out from behind her shoulder as she dashed away, not looking towards Genrou, trying to avoid what pain she felt, and whatever he may be experiencing.
I'm sorry, I truly am. But I can't tell you. I can't hurt you, and I won't.
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Author's notes: I apologize for the lack up updates in the past 4 or so months. I jumped from one play to another, as teachers decided to buckle down on homework. I also lost sight of the story, and when Christmas came, I got into Kingom Hearts. BUT I did finish the chapter, and I do intend to finish this story as soon as I can- the end is in sight. So, thanks for waiting, and enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Do I?... What are you talking about?"
"Well, Miaka, it seems almost obvious that Genrou does like you. He's always watching you, and I was just wondering if those stars in your eyes mean anything. Because, after all," Ai said while flipping her hair over her shoulders, "The man is- and will always be- mine." Miaka stared at Ai for a moment, shocked at the open and carefree attitude the other girl had. Before Miaka opened her mouth to clear anything up between her and Ai, Kourin's mouth had already opened.
"What the hell are you talking about? 'Oh, yes, Genrou's mine! You can't have him!' That's a bunch of bulllllllll-shit! What, are you the one in charge of who decides who ends with who?" Miaka tried to calm Kourin down, but Kourin kept on scream at Ai, who's eyes slowly grew more enraged. "Sure, maybe I'm biased or something, but you still don't have to be a bitch about it!"
"Oh, so now I'm the bitch?! What the-" Ai finally snapped, and her voice finally became heard.
"No, you are not the bitch now. You've always been!" Kourin shot back. Ai's eyes shot open, and her mouth flew open moments later, and the two began to argue loudly. Everyone in the room stared at the two with interest, knowing that a battle between Kourin and Ai was always legendary.
"Ladies! What is going on in here?!" The door flew open, and two men Miaka knew well through her training entered the room. Kourin and Ai stopped, and stared at the two men in shock.
"Nothing has been going on, my good sirs. The most that has happened this evening was a verbal disagreement, and nothing more," Sachi said. She smiled, her lips curving up. Her eyes narrow as she strolled over to the two men, hips turning in a sensual dance. "What do you think happened?" Miaka watched as the two men briefly exchanged a glance, and one answered.
"A verbal disagreement my ass! Two of you in here were screaming at each other over something, and it nearly scared-"
"Does that really matter?" Sachi drawled. Miaka heard Kourin sigh behind her, and she heard the rustle of Kourin's dress as she stood up.
"Well, ladies, as much as I hate to say this, but I forgot that Miaka and I were asked by Yami-san to go get something. If you all would excuse us..." She marched out of the room after she spoke, and Miaka slowly stood.
"Thank you for letting us spent time with you all."
"Don't worry, Miaka. We simply must spend more time together in the future. In the past year that we've been here, I've hardly gotten to know you! Such a shame..." Miaka nodded at Ai's curt comment, and walked away, walking fast when she reached hall, wanting to catch up to Kourin.
Once she had caught up, Kourin turned to her, her eyes filled with rage. "Can you believe her?"
"Kourin, you really did overreact in there. You didn't need to start fighting like that."
"Oh please! It's the first time it got that bad!" Miaka turned to Kourin, and stared for a moment.
"And what do you mean by, 'that bad'? It doesn't make any sense! Besides, I know you don't like Ai that much." Miaka snuck a glance down the hall, and after noticing Ai visibly flirting with the guards from earlier, she continued. "I'm not fond of her either, but you can't keep fighting with her. It's going to turn nasty- really nasty- one day." Kourin sighed.
"Fine, I'll stop. I know you hate it. Besides..." Kourin strolled up to Miaka, a sly grin upon her face. "What good is life if we can't have a little fun?" Miaka sighed, and walked away from her, Kourin laughing hysterically and yelling for Miaka to wait for her. Shaking her head, Miaka ignored Kourin's request, and turned to walk down a different hall to go to her own room.
However, the body Miaka bumped into while turning down the hall made it a bit more difficult.
"Sorry!" Miaka cried out, her waist bend, apologizing. She heard a deep, amused chuckle, and looked up, seeing the one face she thought she had rid herself of. Biting her lip, she stood up straight, preparing for what lied next.
"Now, what a surprise... Thought I'd never have seen you here." Miaka gave him a small smile in return.
"Things can happen for the strangest reasons." He nodded. "What are you doing here?"
"I joined the harem a month or so after you left... Some guy came to our home, and said he's appreciate it if I joined. I kind of got forced into it... But it's nice. My family is safe, I know that. I like the people here, and I'm guaranteed food and a bed." Miaka slowed down a bit, thinking of everything she had gained in a day, just by joining the harem.
"It's everything that we didn't have back in the day... Am I right?" The man moved closer to Miaka, his voice growing lower. Her face scrunched up a bit, and she backed away.
"We're not that old that you should be saying, 'back in the day,' right?" Her eyes fell to the ground, and she backed away even more. The man in front of her smiled, and strolled closer to her.
"Very true... Very. You've always been the voice of reason whenever we got into trouble... No Mother, it wasn't our fault! Kishuku wanted to see what had happened, and when we found him, he had already cut his arms and ripped his clothes!" Miaka looked at the man, slightly amused, as he mimicked herself as the tender age of seven. "Never mind the fact that we had been there when he ended up ripping his clothes..." The man's voice grew lower and nostalgic as his drifted into his and Miaka's childhood. Miaka moved closer to her old friend, feeling sympathetic for him, and laided a hand on his shoulder.
"We've grown older, haven't we?" The man looked as if he were going to open his mouth, but he glanced away from Miaka for a moment, and slowly backed away.
"Miaka, darling, I think it's time to go back to bed now. We're getting looks from the guards around here." Miaka jumped when she heard Kourin's voice. She hadn't noticed Kourin walking over to her, and was shocked to discover how close she had gotten.
"That's... I think that's a good idea. Good night," She said, while nodding to the man near her. Waving a hand, he walked away before Miaka dug up the courage to pick her feet up, and she remained still, watching him walk away from her.
"Miaka," Kourin said while leaning into the girl. "Who was that man?" Miaka looked at Kourin, her eyes full of nostalgia.
"I... I did tell you, a while ago, of my life growing up, right?" When she received a nod, she pressed on with her story. "Well, remember how I told you about how I used to run around with Kishuku an-"
"Was that him? It couldn't have been! You said-"
"Never mind what I said!" Miaka glanced around, curious to see how loud her voice had become. "Let's go back to our rooms," she said in a lower voice. "I can explain more there."
"But do you know why he's here? I thought you told me that he went to-"
"I don't know why he's back. Kishuku told me, before I came here, that I might as well stay, since it's the last place people would expect me to be." Kourin nodded, understanding Miaka's firm dislike of the rituals the harem daily placed upon the women. "He also told me that I need to be careful, because of everything."
"You never told me how it ended." Miaka stopped, midstep, and stared at Kourin as she turned to Miaka.
"Because I don't want to remember. If everyone had wanted me to remember, I would still be home."
"And... Who is this everyone?"
"Kourin, shut up." Kourin giggled, and turned to Miaka, who was currently walking slowly. Looking at her carefully, Kourin sighed.
"All right, so you won't tell me what happened. I can deal with that. But, you have to promise me one thing, that you'll tell me someday." Sighing, Miaka agreed to Kourin's request, wishing it would be a long time before she told her friend.
"Ladies! It's time to return to your rooms!" Miaka sighed again, knowing the voice she heard very well.
"We shall return to our rooms now, sir!" Kourin called out to the man. Before she began to walk to her room, she turned to Miaka. "You sigh too much. I think we need to stop this." Miaka stifled a giggle.
"It's not going to work. Whenever we try to stop someone from doing something, you know it doesn't work. You know that slapping someone isn't going to get them to stop just as much as I do."
"But I can try!" Kourin cried out as she dashed away, her hair flying behind her. Miaka blinked as she watched her friend fly into her room, feeling indifferent about her statement.
"I just hope she doesn't slap me every time I sigh... It's going to get old soon," Miaka murmured under her breath as she stepped closer to her room. When she reached the room, she fell onto the bed, glad to be comfortable. She sat up, pulling her hair out of the knot Kourin had tied it into earlier, and shook her head, hair flying all around her. Draping herself over the side of the bed, she grabbed her nightgown with one finger, and flung in onto the bed, keeping it within reach of her hands. After quickly changing, she pulled herself into reach of her pillow, and wrapped her arms around it. She tried to lure herself into dreaming, but she didn't get very far.
"Great..." She groaned, her face falling into the center of the pillow. "Kishuku's going to strangle me... " Another groan fell from her mouth, and she looked up at her wall, then giggled. "Not matter what I say, he's not going to believe me. I wish he wouldn't be so stubborn..." Another giggle escaped from her. "But I guess, no matter what, he's always going to be that way, isn't he? People are too stubborn for their own good..." As Miaka giggled, she looked over at her closed window, and smiled. She sat up, and walked to the window, and opened it. Sighing, she sat upon the window frame, and leaned against the wall.
Another day, another day. So much has happened today. I guess that it was bound to happen. Well, I guess the most I can do is hope for the best. Since I can't count on anything good to happen with everyone here, I might as well make the best of it. Maybe, if I do that, I can figure everything out, and then life will be perfect... If life would permit me to be happy.
As Miaka drifted off at the windowsill, she didn't notice that, in the shadows of the trees near her room, two men stood, talking silently under their breath. As time passed, the two slowly made their way over to Miaka's window, carefully and silently walking, trying to avoid awaking her. Finally, one man placed a note between her hands, and signaled to the other man, before he walked away. Before walking away, the other man called out to his partner.
"Are you sure we needed to do this?" The man stopped walking, and turned around.
"We can't tell her everything, as much as I want to. But she knows something is going on, and I can't help but feel bad for her, when she's this confused. We might as well let her know something, otherwise she's going to go insane." The other man, by this time, had caught up, and was facing his partner.
"She isn't going to like this, only knowing part of the truth."
"She will know soon enough how this will end. I can only hope that she won't be caught... Before anything happens seriously." When the words escaped his mouth, they lingered in the air as the two men contemplated a possibly future. Their eyes locked onto each other, and for a moment, firm understanding passed through each other. The moment was lost when they, in unison, turned, and walked in different directions, their task complete. Neither man looked back at Miaka, who still dozed quietly.
It wasn't until the wind began to blow that Miaka had woken up, and she quickly shut the windows, taking no notice of the note that was wedged between her hands, which fluttered to the ground when she jumped up from the cold touch of wind. Miaka, ignoring the stark white paper on the ground, walked to the desk, and lit the candle quickly, allowing light to stream through the room. Taking the candle to her bed, she sat down upon the sheets, and put the candle on the table next to her. As she lifted her head when the candle met the wood surface of the table, Miaka finally noticed the note. Walking slowly to the paper, she picked it up with hesitant fingers, as if the paper were made of acid, ready to burn her skin by its touch. She stared at the paper for a moment, before opening it to read. Her eyes widened for a moment, and she gasped when she realized the true meaning of the note.
"I can't do this any long... It needs to come out." As the words were spoken, she dropped the note, and walked to her bed, and picked up the candle. She grabbed a robe, and walked to her door before taking one last look at the note upon the floor, the words ... It is coming, and you need to end this... visible from where she stood. Gathering her confidence, she opened her door, and walked away, muttering to herself that the note meant nothing. However, as soon as she walked out of her room, she bumped into something hard. Looking up in aggravation, she prepared to lash out at whoever had blocked her way. But her eyes softened when she realized what had stopped her.
"Genrou? What are you doing here?" He looked into her eyes for a moment before taking in what she was wearing.
"And you are out of bed this late because..." He gave Miaka another quick glance before looking into her guilty eyes once more. "And what exactly were to saying before you bumped into me?"
I can't! I can't tell him... It's better this way... He can't.
"Genrou, I... I..." Miaka paused, and looked him in the eyes, noticing...
He looks so concerned. I can't lie to him. I can't.
Turning on her heel, Miaka threw an apology out from behind her shoulder as she dashed away, not looking towards Genrou, trying to avoid what pain she felt, and whatever he may be experiencing.
I'm sorry, I truly am. But I can't tell you. I can't hurt you, and I won't.
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